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Friday, 14 October 2011

India vs England 1st ODI: India win by 126 runs

India won the 1st One Day International match against England by 126 runs at Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in Hyderabad on Friday.

Breaking their prolonged streak, India rode on Dhoni's blistering 87-run knock and Suresh Raina's 55-ball 61 to post a mammoth 330 for seven and then skittled out the visitors for only 174 runs in 36.1 overs Rajiv Gandhi International stadium to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

This was India's first victory after a losing streak of 10 international matches that includes five ODIs (last two ODIs in West Indies), four Tests and one T20 international.

The wicket got slower with passage of time and India's newest spin-twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja tightened the noose on England batsmen sharing six wickets between them.

The margin of victory should come as whiff of fresh air for Dhoni and Co who would now certainly feel upbeat with four ODIs remaining.

Craig Kieswetter (7) was the first to depart when he nicked at an away going delivery from Praveen Kumar. Kevin Pietersen (19) hit three boundaries but Ashwin's direct throw from mid-on found him short of his crease.

Skipper Alastair Cook (60) joined hands with Jonathan Trott (26) and added 71 runs for the third wicket. They didn't score at a very brisk pace but kept decent run-rate going for their team.

It was slow left-arm spin of Jadeja that started the slide. The Saurashtra all-rounder dismissed Cook and Trott within a space of nine runs to effect a middle-order collapse.

While Cook was holed out in the deep mid-wicket trying to give Jadeja the charge, Trott played an uncharacteristic slog sweep, obly to be clean bowled.

The dangerous Ravi Bopara then offered a tame return catch to Ashwin while Jadeja got his third scalp when young Jonathan Bairstow was also dismissed in an identical fashion.

From 111 for two, England slumped to 126 for six and the writing was there on the wall.

Jadeja (3/34) and Ashwin (3/35) had nearly identical figures while Umesh Yadav (2/32) also got a couple in the end.

The day, however, belonged to the India captain who smashed an unbeaten 87 off 70 deliveries on a track where strokemaking wasn't exactly easy.

The last 15 overs yielded a whopping 150 runs as one got a glimpse of vintage Dhoni. The now famous 'Helicopter shot' fetched him plenty of runs as he hit 10 boundaries and a six enroute his 42nd half century in ODIs.

The innings assumes greater significance for Dhoni considering the amount of pressure he was in after England tour.

The hosts were scoring runs at a sedate pace for the first 35 overs partly due to the dual nature of the surface and also some disciplined bowling by the visitors before the duo started the slugfest adding 72 runs for the fifth wicket in only 10 overs.

Once Raina departed, Dhoni took it upon himself to punish the English bowlers who suddenly lacked discipline after bowling well for the better part of the innings.

It was Raina's counter-attack in the mandatory batting Powerplay from 36th to 40th that opened the floodgates as hosts smashed 59 runs in those five overs.

Raina hit his customary aerial shots in the arc between extra cover and mid-wicket while Dhoni also hammered Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn and Tim Bresnan with consumate ease.

Raina completed his half century with six over long off Bresnan's bowling. He departed, caught by Bairstow off Finn while was trying to hit a slog shot but not before scoring 61 off only 55 balls with five fours and two sixes.

Opting to bat first on a wicket which offered variable bounce to the England pacers, the Indian batsmen especially Ajinkya Rahane (15) made a complete mess of the first mandatory Powerplay when India managed only 47 runs losing Parthiv Patel's wicket.

Parthiv backed a bit too far after Rahane hit a straight drive off Finn but the bowler got a hand to it on his follow through. He managed only nine.

The stage was set for Rahane to fire, especially after he got a 'life' in the very second over as Trott, at first slip, dropped him off Finn's bowling. Rahane was yet to open his account then.

However, the Mumbai youngster went into a shell and found it difficult to even push through the gaps for singles.

Gautam Gambhir playing his first international match after a long time hit a few crisp shots including a nice square drive off Bresnan.

The Delhi southpaw showed intent of keeping the scoreboard ticking although the boundaries were few and far between.

Off-spinner Graeme Swann was introduced as early as 12th over. With two new balls being used from both ends, it effectively meant that Swann was bowling with a white kookaburra that was only five overs old.

Eager to break the shackles, Rahane charged out only to be deceived by Swann's flighted delivery that turned a shade away and it was easy work for Craig Kieswetter behind the stumps. He consumed 41 balls.

Gambhir was joined by Virat Kohli but the Delhi duo failed to up the ante. Dernbach dismissed the former during the second over of the bowling Powerplay taken by England.

It was a slow full-toss coming from the back of the hand and Gambhir completely missed the line of the ball. He was hit on the pads and the ball would have crashed into the leg-stump. He managed 32 off 33 balls with four hits to the fence.

The bowling Powerplay also proved to be fruitful for England as they conceded only 20 runs.

The normally aggressive Kohli was also not in his element and was out, caught by POietersen while trying to launch into left-arm spinner Samit Patel.

At 123 for four, Raina was joined by skipper Dhoni as the duo started the repair job. They waited patiently and took the batting Powerplay from 36th to 40th over to launch a counter-attack on English bowlers which helped them in reaching a competitive score.

Swann with figures of one for 35 was the only Emglish bowler to have escaped from Dhoni and Raina's onslaught as Finn (1/67), Bresnan (0/66) and Dernbach (1/58) were smashed in the last 15 overs. (Samaylive)